Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#41

Post by ibudiallo » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:21 AM UTC

From 2007 to 2017, I read zero books. Before that, I only read self help books. I didn't find any use for fiction or novels for that matter. Self help books were actionable to me.

But then I stopped. The most I did during that decade was read Wikipedia entries or cliff notes. But one day I stumbled upon the alchemist. The book came to me at a moment I truly needed it, and it offered me some answers. Little after I read another fiction, Life of Pi. These are simple books with profound messages that can easily lure you back into reading. I ended reading more than 20 books that year.

Today, I can't imagine myself not reading. Books are where smart people take their time to clearly and precisely formulate their ideas. And the great advantage is that when you forget what's in a book, you can read it again.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#42

Post by Smithalicious » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:25 AM UTC

I used to read a lot, until I entered middle school. You see, in middle school, we had to read 4 books a year from a whitelist and write a report about them and such.

This meant I no longer felt motivated to read a book not on that list; after all, if I read a book from that list instead, I'd be killing two birds with one stone. Reading a book not on the list just seemed like a waste of time. Of course, I decided which books to read by randomly stumbling upon them, not by picking them from some list, so I was rarely motivated to read books that were on the list either. Not to mention that reading was now homework, where I'd need to think about how to write the report and which excerpts to use at all times.

The result was that I just stopped reading for the most part. It sucked all the fun out of it.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#43

Post by nitins » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:28 AM UTC

cbanek wrote: post #13

My kindle helped me fall in love with reading books. Plus, not having to worry about physical books (heavy, easy to damage), being able to borrow books from the library electronically, and control font size and lighting easily has turned me into a convert, and I couldn't be happier.

Same for me. Kindle makes it easy to read during travels.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#44

Post by TrackerFF » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 8:50 AM UTC

I always found it extremely hard to read anything at length. I could read just fine, but my mind would start to wander, and then I'd have to re-read a page 3-5 times unless I was extremely focused.

I was later (as an adult) diagnosed with ADHD.

Audiobooks work much better for me, as I can do other things at the same time, but I still get the information passively.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#45

Post by shrumm » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 9:41 AM UTC

The author talks about picking up a book as an alternative to your phone or watching TV as a post dinner activity. If anything, modern life has consolidated activities from specialised ‘things’ like radios, phones, books, TV to computing devices. I’ve been reading on my iPad and phone for years now. This makes me wonder what the impact is to kids - since they learn so much by watching you.

If you pick up a book, you arouse their curiosity to do the same. If you pick up a phone and launch an epub reader - not so much.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#46

Post by Filligree » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:10 AM UTC

cgriswald wrote: post #8

lucidguppy wrote: post #5

I go through periods of intensive reading, then downtimes. These both span for months. Problem is a lot of it is dreck. Some books draw out a story for 1100 pages then stuff all the cool stuff in the last 200 pages. It feels dishonest. A lot of classics aren't. A lot of pulp is captivating and fast paced. I tried reading infinite jest - I had to return it. I finished fear an loathing in las vegas in a day. It's a cra…

It is a crapshoot. I’m fortunate in that my mother is a prolific reader. I am too, but she makes me look illiterate. She consumes a ridiculous number of books a year. Lots of it is crap. Some isn’t, and she’s always recommended those ones to me, keeping in mind my own interests. Over the years I’ve met a few others who I trust to recommend books. But most people, even professional reviewers, just don’t work for me. T…

You should try Greg Egan's books, if you like SF at all. I think a good introduction would be Schild's Ladder or Axiomatic, but my personal favorite is the Clockwork Rocket trilogy and Dichromatic.

The latter two are conceptually related. If you know about metric signatures, you'll be able to tell how. If not, well, you will.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#47

Post by everyone » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:38 AM UTC

If your're reading non-fiction, then you're probably learning something.

If your're reading fiction, then it is most likely just entertainment. So, its equivalent to watching a fiction movie or tv show, or whatnot.

I find it odd thats its encouraged and considered good to just read, regardless of content. What you're reading is critical.

You can read 'Harry Potter' and divert and entertain yourself, or read 'A Brief History of Time', and do the same, but also learn a bit.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#48

Post by Scarblac » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 10:45 AM UTC

everyone wrote: post #47

If your're reading non-fiction, then you're probably learning something. If your're reading fiction, then it is most likely just entertainment. So, its equivalent to watching a fiction movie or tv show, or whatnot. I find it odd thats its encouraged and considered good to just read , regardless of content. What you're reading is critical. You can read 'Harry Potter' and divert and entertain yourself, or read 'A Brief…

The act of reading is a skill that needs maintenance. It doesn't matter much whether it's fiction or nonfiction.

Harry Potter is a bit of an unfair example as it's intended as a children's book, they still need to build up the skill.

But more importantly, good fiction (and other art) _teaches about the human condition_. I have learned a lot from Vonnegut and Pratchett even though everything I read by them was fiction.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#49

Post by apolog » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 11:22 AM UTC

everyone wrote: post #47

If your're reading non-fiction, then you're probably learning something. If your're reading fiction, then it is most likely just entertainment. So, its equivalent to watching a fiction movie or tv show, or whatnot. I find it odd thats its encouraged and considered good to just read , regardless of content. What you're reading is critical. You can read 'Harry Potter' and divert and entertain yourself, or read 'A Brief…

I couldn't disagree more. Good fiction is more than just entertainment, and you learn as much from it than from a good non-fiction book. Some aestheticians have talked about how you learn from art the same way you learn from more obvious sources. Some non-fiction books are great, but there are a lot of non-fiction books that are just entertainment.

It's not the shelf of the bookshop on which you find it that tells you if you can learn something from it.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#50

Post by bigred100 » Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 11:40 AM UTC

alexhutcheson wrote: post #18

lucidguppy wrote: post #5

I go through periods of intensive reading, then downtimes. These both span for months. Problem is a lot of it is dreck. Some books draw out a story for 1100 pages then stuff all the cool stuff in the last 200 pages. It feels dishonest. A lot of classics aren't. A lot of pulp is captivating and fast paced. I tried reading infinite jest - I had to return it. I finished fear an loathing in las vegas in a day. It's a cra…

The key is to just put it down and move on to another book if you’re not enjoying it. Many people have a completist attitude towards reading - they continue to slog through to the end of a book once they’ve started, even if they don’t like it. They’ll make slow progress, and it blocks them from picking up a new book. Cut your losses early - your total reading throughput will be much higher, and most nonfiction books…

Books aren’t about enjoyment. They’re about suffering and talking about Montaigne at a party. That’s why I forced myself to read 800 pages of Babur complaining about melons.